1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a starter composed mainly of a starter motor or an electric motor and an electromagnetic switch placed close to the electric motor at the outside of the electric motor in a radial direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A starter capable of starting the operation of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle is equipped with an electromagnetic switch for opening and closing a main contact which is placed in a motor circuit. For example, Japanese patent JP-3478211 discloses such a starter.
The electromagnetic switch and the starter motor are electrically connected to a M terminal bolt fixed to a resin cover of the electromagnetic switch through a motor lead wiring. This configuration of such a starter requires a plurality of additional components such as a washer through which the M terminal bolt is fixed to the resin cover, a nut through which the motor lead wire is connected to the M terminal bolt in addition to the M terminal bolt and the motor lead wiring. This increase the number of assembling working steps and also increases the total manufacturing cost of the start.
In order to eliminate such a drawback, the inventors according to the present invention have proposed a technique capable of decreasing the total number of components forming a starter by simplifying its connection-wiring configuration between the electromagnetic switch and the starter motor. Japanese patent application No. JP 2006-195586 discloses such a technique.
In the configuration of the starter disclosed in Japanese patent application No. JP 2006-195586, because a terminal plate is forcedly fixed only by an elastic member after the completion of starter assembling, the position of a motor-side contact is varied. On contacting a movable contact in the starter onto the motor-side contact, it is difficult to keep an adequate contact area between the movable contact and the motor side contact. There is a room for further improvement of the configuration of the starter regarding the positioning between the movable contact and the motor-side contact.